Why are the linguists doing so well in the job market?
The beginning of the answer lies in the fact that, in the UK, some 35%-40% of graduate jobs are open to people from any discipline. And it is in this area of the jobs market that the linguists are beating their competitors from other subjects. […] Linguists are particularly well qualified in communication skills, which employers place high on their list of priorities. […] But the unique selling point that language graduates have to offer is the year they spend abroad. Obviously, it gives them a good oral command of the language (s). More to the point, it also means that they have acquired, by this pretty testing experience, a capacity for coping with the unfamiliar, a flexibility, a maturity which three years spent in a UK university does not usually provide. These are the qualities of mind and character which impress employers, even those who regard foreign language skills as unimportant.
